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Reviews by BryanCarey:

Full Sail Imperial Stout is a very dark brew with a nose that offers roasted notes, molasses, some wood, and chocolate. The beige head of foam isn’t as big and bold as I expected, but it passes.

Moving to the taste, this beer offers flavors of bittersweet chocolate, a little bit of bourbon, roasted malt, molasses, and dark fruit. There are some iced coffee notes and the beer offers a lingering bitterness, but it isn’t as bitter as some of the bigger, bolder imperial stouts out there.

This is an interesting beer for several reasons, one of which is the fact that it has a bourbon/wood flavor component, but isn’t, as far as I know, aged in barrels. Based on the flavor, I would have guessed it was but every source I check says otherwise. Another way this beer stands out from others is that it is far less imperial than the average imperial stout. The body is less heavy than others, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it watery. It isn’t a light beer by any stretch, it just isn’t as heavy as other imperial stouts.

Overall, this is another solid effort from Full Sail. It may not rank among the best imperial stouts I have ever tried, but it does have enough good qualities to make it recommendable.

More User Reviews:

4/5 rDev +5.8%look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

7.2%ABV. per bottle label.Poured jet black with a well defined one finger deep tan colored head atop,it settled very slowly leaving nice lacing as it did.Chocolate and roast stand out most in the nose,dark fruit comes into play as it warms more.Dark fruit and char up front on the palate followed by French roast coffee and bitter chocolate,a drying somewhat raw earthiness in the finish.This is a solid lighter beer for the style,it's not thick chewey and alcoholic but still has all the character of an imperial stout.Solid.

Pours black with a big soapy tan head. Spider webs of lace. Roasty aromas, bold taste, mostly coffee. Some burnt parts. More sweet than bitter, some chocolate malts. A bit astringent. Not the thickest of the style,not the most omplex, but decent enough RIS, thanks Radek.

I gave this one a full on pour into my deep frozen mug. The carbs made a nice display despite the abuse, and to top it off it gave me that aroma we all look for in these darkies, burnt biscuits.

Drinking it, I got quite the same, and the carbs were great. The ABV delivered without being too fumey. Rich, dark, and sweet. I had a lot of muffin crust in this one and no complaints. It delivered. Gracias.

Poured into a large wine glass from a capped 22 oz. bottle. Pours a nearly opaque black with a thin cap of mocha foam. Offers fair retention and good lacing.

Nose of roasted malt and milk chocolate with deeper chocolate notes with warming. Becomes a bit reaching after the head settles and not very volatile without some good agitation. Some earthy hops evident as the beer settles.

Flavor is somewhat dry with light chocolate and coffee and more roasted or even smoked malt given the dryness. Feel is a bit light for the style and with a slight cherry chocolate finish. Easy drinking given the light body and dry character yet not offering much reason to linger either. Warming does bring forth a fuller body and more depth.

- Rather heavy pour into a small tumbler glass... not very much head, but a rather dark mocha head.... fizzy and small bubbles... quickly down to a resting ring and bit of scattered froth among the top. A rich dark brown/black.. with a bit of ruby red showing at the edges against the light.

- Lovely oat and grain with a hit of chocolate malt.. smells mighty balanced and light. Zingy and bitter hopping..

- Rather light to medium bodied... not at all syrupy or sticky... makes the mouth water.

- Huge drinkability... smooth, and light for an 8% ale. Taste is great, and I would certainly buy again. Wondering what one would be like with a few years on it. I heard somewhere that this may only be a preview of something better to come of this imperial stout.

A: The beer pours a dark black body with a thin tan head that quickly fades away and leaves a tiny bit of lace on the glass.

S: To me it smells sort of oxidized with a little bit of chocolate malt, some roasted malt and a bit of sweetness.

T: The beer has a lot of chocolate flavor, but not as much roastedness as I want. The chocolate/ mocha flavor lasts for a long time. It sort of reminds me of a stronger version of guinness. I think it tastes very nice.

M: The beer is pretty smooth for an Imperial stout and really easy to drink. It also has a tiny bit of crispness on the back of the throat.

O: Man for 4 dollars this beer is well worth the money. It has some nice characteristics and I really enjoyed it. I would for sure buy a lot of this.

Pours near black with a slight red tone. Slight tan head and a trace of lacing. Dark malts and coffee aroma. Dark malt, dark fruit and light hops. Finishes dry with lingering coffee/dry dark malt. Not very complex. Like an imperial version of an English stout. Satisfactory, but not outstanding.

Thanks to redbrewer83 for sending this one out in our most recent trade, which incidentally, isn't so recent. We have to trade again, Evan! Poured this bottle of the 2010 vintage into my snifter.

Opaque black, viscous looking, but only .5 cm head at its peak. It fades away quickly, leaving only the pitch-colored liquid behind. A swirl leaves oily legs and kicks up a touch of carbonation, though that also rushes away as soon as it reaches the surface.

The aroma is dark. Lots of black malts here. Acrid roast, chocolate, roasted coffee, and a touch of toffee that barely squeezes its way in through the acrid roast. The flavor is similar, with no presence of fruit, but plenty of roast and almost burnt coffee. Not too much nuance in this. Some piney hop oils come through at the end, but only in hints.

Nice a thick, resinous, and syrupy, this hits the mark in terms of feel. Low carbonation, and despite what other reviews said, an ample and full body. Thanks again, Evan, this was a good one.

Taste is light cocoa with a dusty mineral flavor and the fruit is less prevalent than the nose would indicate. A little roasty and acrid on the finish, lingering bitterness. Mouthfeel is very thin for the style and it does have a bit of 'watery' taste to it. It is not even average in the style category for mouthfeel...I know Full Sail can brew some really good stuff when they want too, but some of these bomber offerings just seem so half-assed. A watery, 7.2% ABV Imperial Stout...really? That is not imperial, man....maybe foreign export at best. Its like the Pre-K of imperial stouts, Im surprised it didnt come with a diaper. I jest...kind of. It is not that bad of a beer overall, and I think the 3.99 price tag is reasonable, but to call it a brewmaster reserve is a little much.

Taste is like aroma roasted malts, some bakers chocolate, lots more coffee in the taste then in the nose. Also light liquorice notes along with some hops to round out the finish. some light alcohol notes that don't distract at all.

Drinkability is good enough for the price not overly expensive, little lighter then I would like but nice roasted flavors so its pretty good. Not great enough to be on my go to list for big stout but plenty good for a try.